Published: November 05, 2009 11:31 pm      

Roberts harvests bull elk

After spending two days in the beautiful aspen covered Rocky Mountains near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Bruce Roberts had nothing to show for his efforts. Roberts, a trophy bow hunter with several Pope and Young class whitetails to his credit, had located an area that had a bull, however. “The rut was just coming in and the bulls were sparring and tussling a little with a lot of bugling,” Roberts said.

On the third morning of the hunt a bull signaled his presence with thunderous bugles and Roberts was in business. Hunting bull elk during their mating season with a bow is akin to hunting gobblers in the spring in Mississippi.. And that’s something Roberts knows more than a thing or two about after spending much of his younger years calling up and harvesting many gobblers.

Roberts fooled with the bull for a couple of hours in a game of chess, with neither adversary making a winning move. “He’d come to us, but not quite close enough,” said Roberts.

About mid morning Roberts decided it was time to make a move. “I told my partner that we needed to move as the bull would come right to the edge of the aspens where we were, but wouldn’t come out far enough for a shot. We mouth called and bugled and he answered us and it was time to move, so we moved into the dark timber with him.”

After setting up again, Roberts called one time and his hunting partner started raking a tree with branches, simulating another bull. “He couldn’t stand that and just went crazy,” continued Roberts. “The bull came towards us on a trail that was real thick and I could see him, but my partner couldn’t.”

Roberts told his partner to lie down and not move as the bull blazed his way towards their position. As the enraged bull tore up the woods and bugled like crazy he crossed through a trail and stopped for a second on the next trail. “I drew my Mathews bow back just as the bull stopped and provided me one small opening and I shot,” said Roberts. “What did you shoot?” questioned his hunting partner. “You shot one?”

Roberts’s partner couldn’t see the bull and didn’t have a clue if he’d seen a bull or if he’d hit him. “Yeah, I shot him and I think I drilled him,” Roberts replied. Roberts and his partner sat there a few seconds after they thought they heard him crash and pile up. “We started high fiving and suddenly the bull bugled!” exclaimed Roberts.

“We looked at each other and he asked me whether I thought the bull would bugle if he’d been hit, and I told him that I didn’t think so,” said Roberts. “I called to him again and the bull answered me and cows started mewing all around as they kept moving away from us.” The bull continued up the mountain bugling and all Roberts could do was listen and wonder.

“We sat there a minute and thought about it and all I could see was one little opening and I knew I either hit a tree or made a perfect shot, I didn’t think I could have missed,” Roberts continued. “I mean it’s like shooting at the side of a house, he was so big.”

After moving toward the shot area, they determined the arrow had not hit a tree. As they got to the spot where the bull had been Roberts spotted a couple of coyotes licking the branches of a tree and knew that he’d made a hit, but how good was still a mystery.

“We went down there and found the bull about thirty yards from where I’d shot him!” Roberts exclaimed. “There had been two bulls, and the other bull that we heard had been with him and we only heard one of them bugling,” he said excitedly.

Many years of hunting gobblers had prepared Roberts for elk hunting and his bow hunting prowess had really paid off as well, as he made the perfect double lung shot on the massive 5 by 5, 800 pound Rocky Mountain bull elk! Roberts had shot through a pie plate sized opening at a distance of 49 yards and scored a perfect hit on the trophy of his lifetime. After three days, and four or five hours of working the bull in a game of cat and mouse, Roberts had succeeded in something that is a lifetime quest for many elk hunters!



Contact Mike Giles at 601-917-3898

or e-mail him at Giles1958@bellsouth.net